Palestinian Christians to get at least 7 seats in legislative elections

President Mahmoud Abbas issues a decree to allocate at least seven seats in the next Palestinian Legislative Council to Christian citizens in a move that recognizes the importance of Palestine's dwindling Christian community.
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Politician Hanan Ashrawi, 74, says she will not be running for one of the seven seats reserved for Christians in the next Palestinian Legislative Council, leaving the way open for younger people. Here, she speaks at a press conference on Feb. 24, 2015, in the West Bank city of Ramallah. - ABBAS MOMANI/AFP via Getty Images)
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Daoud Kuttab
@daoudkuttab

When Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signed a decree Feb. 21 setting aside a minimum of seven legislative seats for Christians in the upcoming elections for the 132-member Palestinian Legislative Council, he was following a tradition set by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. He was also reflecting on the wide contribution of Palestinian Christians in the last century. 

Issa el Issa, a Palestinian Christian poet and journalist, founded with his cousin Yousef El-Issa the biweekly newspaper Filastin in 1911 in his hometown of Jaffa.

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